Guidelines for CR, ROC & F&M

1. Manuscripts of full length research papers/review articles/short communications In English typed in MS Word format are welcome for publication in Crop Research (CR), Research on Crops (ROC) and Farming & Management (F & M) journals.

The manuscripts submitted for publication should not contain data older than 4 years on the date of submission.

The articles submitted for publication in this journal should not be submitted elsewhere simultaneously for publication in another journal. These should not carry any copyright material without prior permission of copyright holder.

The articles should present a complete picture of the investigation made and should not be split into parts.

There is no prescribed limit regarding the number of pages in case of full-length articles. However, the authors are advised to keep the length of their articles from 4 to 10 full printed pages of the journal.

The articles should be divided into the sub-sections: ABSTRACT, INTRODUCTION, MATERIALS AND METHODS, RESULTS AND DISCUSSION, CONCLUSIONS, and REFERENCES. Tables and figures should be appended separately at the end.

3. Submission of Manuscripts:

CR and ROC: Authors may submit their manuscripts through online submission system at www.indianjournals.com The manuscripts may also be submitted through e-mail attachment to the Managing Editor at cropresearch1@gmail.com ; researchoncrops@gmail.com ; info@cropresearch.org ; aricindia@hotmail.com for publication in CR and ROC.

F & M: The manuscripts for publication in F&M journal may be submitted through online submission system at www.indianjournals.com The manuscripts can also be submitted through e-mail attachment to the Managing Editor at fmeditor@outlook.com ; info@cropresearch.org ; farmingandmanagement@gmail.com for publication in F & M.

Manuscripts which are reporting more than four years old study and containing more than 15 typed pages including tables and figures are normally not considered for publication.

Manuscripts should be typed on A4 size paper in MS Word using 12 pt. New Times Roman font with 1.5 line space leaving at least 2.5 cm margins.

Submission Ethics: Submission of manuscript implies; that the work described has not been published before; that it is not under consideration for publication anywhere else; that its publication has been approved by all co-authors, if any, and by the concerned authorities particularly at the institute where the research has been carried out. The publisher will not be held legally responsible if there is any claim for compensation or otherwise.

Peer Review and Editorial Process: Peer-Review is an important element in the scientific publication process to ensure the quality of research. It helps in making the research more effective, error-free and verified in terms of ethical standards. All manuscripts will be peer-reviewed by at least two independent reviewers, who may be members of the Editorial Board or outside experts. The Editor-in-Chief is responsible for the overall editorial process and coordination. He/She is assisted by Associate Editors, who will coordinate the review process of manuscripts dealing with subjects of their respective expertise.

4. Arrangement of the Manuscript: Manuscripts should be arranged in the following order:

(A) Title page (Separate)

Title of article should be informative but concise and should not contain abbreviations. It should be set in small and bold letters.

The title should indicate the scientific name of the crops or organisms studied, wherever relevant.

A short title, not exceeding 60 characters should be given for running headlines.

Byline should contain, in addition to the names and initials of authors (in capital letters), the place where research was conducted (in italics), and not where the authors are currently working. Change of address for any author should be given as a footnote. Complete address including the name of laboratory/department, institution /university, city/town/district, state and PIN code should be mentioned.

The e-mail ID of the corresponding author should be given as footnote.

(B) ABSTRACT

Second page should start with the abstract. Abstract should indicate the experiment described in brief, including objective, season or year and the place of study, materials and methods, main results and the most important conclusion / recommendation.

It should not have reference to literature and tables/figures.

It should be as concise as possible and limited to maximum 350 words.

Key words (5-8) should be given at the end of ABSTRACT in alphabetical order separated by commas.

(C) INTRODUCTION

The introductory part should be brief and to the point.

Introduction should set the work in present context, giving only essential background. However, give a brief reference to previous relevant research.

It should briefly describe the current available information on the subject, duly supported by recent references.

When new references are available, do not use more than 10 years old references except landmark references in that field.

(D) MATERIALS AND METHODS

This part of the manuscript should contain the materials and methods used in the experiment and analysis adopted.

This part should begin with details relating to place of study, period/season/year, climate or weather conditions,experimental materials and others as relevant to the study.

Treatment details along with techniques and experimental design, replications, plot size etc. should be clearly indicated.

Use of symbols for treatments should be fully explained at its first mention.

This section should specify the methodology for application of experimental treatments.

The specific observations recorded during the experiment should be described properly.

Avoid detailed description of known methods of analysis. However, any new technique developed and followed should be described in detail.

References for methods used in the study should be cited.

All statistical comparisons among treatments may be made at P=0.05 level of probability. Correlation and regression analysis should be given in appropriate cases.

(E) RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Results should be reported under suitable sub-headings and discussed together to avoid duplication.

Do not mention the data as such in the text. Interpret it suitably by indicating in terms of per cent / absolute changes or any other derivations.

While discussing, the results should be related to the objectives.

Discussion should be strengthened by explaining treatment effects in terms of cause-and-effect relationship.Explain how the results relate to previous findings.

When the results differ from previously available information, possible explanations should be given. Controversial issues should be discussed clearly and fairly.

The relevant references should be suitably mentioned for discussion of the results.

(F) CONCLUSION

This section should clearly summary the results obtained and their impact in solution of the practical problems and contribution to scientific knowledge. Suggest areas for further investigation.

The word ‘Conclusions’ should be typed as a separate heading. It should not be written in more than 8 sentences.

(G) ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

If necessary, the authors may place on record the help and cooperation or any financial help received from any source, person or organization for the study. This should be very brief.

(H) REFERENCES

All references cited in the text of a manuscript must appear at the end of the article under the heading References and vice-versa.

The spellings of names and dates or years in the text and references list should be carefully checked.

The references should include names of all authors, years (within brackets), full title of the article, name of the journal (abbreviated) in italics, volume number (in bold), issue number, and pages.

For book or monograph, the name of the publisher should also be given as well as its volume, edition and relevant pages.

The references cited together in the text should be arranged chronologically. The list of references should be arranged alphabetically on author’s names, and chronologically per author.

References from standard scientific journals should be preferred, while those concerning unpublished data are generally to be avoided. A few examples for correct citation of references in the list are given below:

Joshi, N.L. (1999). Effect of component densities on the performance of pearlmillet-mungbean intercropping system under different rainfall situations in an arid environment. Annals of Arid Zone 38: 15-25. Sharma, S. N. and Prasad, Rajendra. 2008. Effect of crop-residue management on the production and agronomic nitrogen efficiency in a rice-wheat cropping system. Journal of Plant Nutrition and Soil Science 171 (2): 295-302.

Singh, Devendra., Pandey, Rakesh., Sharma, S.K. and Kumar, Vipin. (2008). Effect of crop geometry and planting methods on growth and yield of Bt and non-Bt cotton hybrids in cotton-wheat system under northwestern plain zones. Journal of Farming Systems Research and Development 14 (1): 46-49.

Each table should be typed on a separate page (not to be included in the text) and numbered consecutively in the same order as they are mentioned in text.

The title must describe the contents of the table fully and explain any symbol or abbreviation used in it as a footnote, using small letters viz. a, b, c and so on or asterisks

The tables should not cover more than 30% space of the text.

Tables should be self-explanatory but not very large (< 11 and 15 columns in portrait and land scape formats, respectively).

The large sized tables should be split into two or more small tables.

Use standard abbreviations of units of different parameters in tables.

The data in the tables should be corrected to minimum place of decimal.

Vertical lines in tables should not be used to separate columns.

Horizontal lines in tables should be used only where necessary.

All the tables should be tagged with the main body of the text after references.

(J) Figures

Instead of tables, figures may be given where a large number of values/data are presented. The same data should not be presented in both tables and figures.

Originals of the figures should not be larger than twice the final size, of good quality and printed clearly in black or colour.

The figures should be sized to fit within the columns of the journal.

Extremely small font and great variation in text sizes within figures should be avoided.

Only standard abbreviations should be used. For pesticides names, the first letter should not be capitalized. The trade names should be capitalized.

All weights and measurements must be in SI or metric units.

Use kg/ha, or t/ha (if more than 999 kg/ha). Similarly, prefer use of g/ha, mg/kg, mg/l, mg/g, ml/l etc. rather than % or ppm. Do not follow the style kg ha-1 or t ha-1.

Use % after numbers, not per-cent, e.g. 7%.

In a series or range of measurements, mention the units only at end, e.g. use 20, 60, 100 and 2000C; 30 or 40% more, instead of 20C, 60C, 100C and 200C; 30% or 40% more.

Statistical analysis of data in the standard experimental design should be sound and complete in itself with both SEm? and CD (P=0.05) values given for comparison of treatment means in tables and figures.

(4) Submission ethics

Submission of manuscript implies; that the work described has not been published before; that it is not under consideration for publication anywhere else; that its publication has been approved by all co-authors, if any, and by the concerned authorities particularly at the institute where the research has been carried out

The publisher will not be held legally responsible if there is any claim for compensation or otherwise.

(5) Peer Review

Peer-Review is an important element in the scientific publication process to ensure the quality of research.

It helps in making the research more effective, error-free and verified in terms of ethical standards.

All manuscripts will be peer-reviewed by at least two independent reviewers, who may be members of the Editorial Board or outside experts.

The Editor-in-Chief is responsible for the overall editorial process and coordination. He / She is assisted by Editorial Board, who will coordinate the review process of manuscripts dealing with subjects of their respective expertise.

All the manuscripts received for publication in are given an identification number.

The articles which are containing original information and written properly as per the ‘Guidelines’ are forwarded to an expert for peer review.

The articles that are poorly written are rejected as such or returned to the author for revision.

The revised articles are also checked by editorial board members and placed before Editor-in-Chief for a final decision.

The acceptance letter of a suitable peer reviewed article will be sent through email to corresponding author.

The galley proofs (pdf) are mailed to the corresponding author for correction before final printing.

The pdf copies of published articles are supplied to corresponding author free of cost.

(6) Page Processing/Printing Charges

All the authors whose papers accepted for publication in CROP RESEARCH and RESEARCH ON CROP are required to pay page processing/printing charges. The rate list of page charges will be supplied to authors along with acceptance letters.

There is no processing/printing charges for publication of papers in Farming & Management journal.